Insights into the subtitling of films from Arabic into Spanish
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Language Value July 2021, Vol. 14, Num. 1
www.languagevalue.uji.es ISSN 1989-7103
Insights into the subtitling of films from Arabic into
Spanish
Noha Abdallah Mohamed Moussa
n.a.moussa21@gmail.com
Ain Shams University, Egypt
Miguel Ángel Candel-Mora
mcandel@upv.es
Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain
Mohamed Moussa, N. A., & Candel-Mora, M. A. (2021). Insights into the subtitling of films
from Arabic into Spanish. Language Value, 14(1), 60-84. Universitat Jaume I ePress: Castelló,
Spain. http://www.languagevalue.uji.es.
July 2021
DOI: 10.6035/languagev.5822
ISSN 1989-7103
ABSTRACT
Audiovisual translation studies (AVT) have experienced an exponential growth in the last twenty years,
have consolidated proven analysis methodologies, and attracted the interest mainly of Western scholars.
It is interesting to investigate whether these methodologies are also applicable to the study of subtitling
of films from linguistically and culturally distant cultures such as Egyptian and Spanish. Therefore, the
main objective of this work is to verify whether the translation norms proposed in the translation methods
for dubbing and subtitling, traditionally based on language combinations with English, are applicable for
the specific case of the Arabic-Spanish language combination, based on the analysis of the treatment of
the cultural elements present in the audiovisual texts selected for this research. Among the findings, the
distinctive features and colloquial character and spontaneity of the original versions are frequently lost.
Keywords: Audiovisual translation; subtitling; translation norm; cultural term.
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103 60
DOI: 10.6035/languagev.5822Noha Abdallah Mohamed Moussa and Miguel Ángel Candel-Mora
I. INTRODUCTION
The advent of Audiovisual translation studies (AVT) took place in the academic world in
the early 1960s following the publication of the issue of the journal Babel devoted to
film translation. Since then, this speciality of translation has become increasingly
important. The 21st century marks the beginning of the exponential growth of
audiovisual translation, with a progressive shift towards audiovisual media over print
media, making audiovisual translation "the most dynamic and fastest developing trend
within Translation Studies" (Orero, 2004), and a field of great interest in western
academic circles.
On the basis of the linguistic and intercultural distance between the Egyptian and
Spanish cultures, this study is approached with the intention of contributing to the
existing literature on translation methods for dubbing and subtitling, with a special focus
on translation norms. This study arises from the aspiration to deepen into a relatively
unexplored field in the variety of audiovisual translation of subtitling in the Arabic-
Spanish language pair, in particular, in Egyptian films subtitled in Spanish. After a
detailed screening of several films, two key films in Egyptian cinematography directed
by Youssef Chahine have been selected: Cairo Station (Bāb al-ḥadīd) (1958) and The
Earth (Al-ʼrd) (1969) for their high number of representative samples of potential
cultural constraints, and for their importance in both Arab and Egyptian film history.
Since the early 1980s, the study of translation as a cultural rather than simply linguistic
phenomenon has been advocated. Especially in the early 1990s, with the cultural
perspective on translation known as Cultural turn. According to Hurtado Albir (1994, p.
35), scholars agree in presenting translation not as a process of transcoding from
language to language but as a transcultural act (Snell-Hornby); a communicative process
that takes place within a social context (Hatim and Mason); an intersystemic act of
communication (Toury); or a communicative practice and therefore a type of social
behaviour (Hermans).
Translation is not only linguistic, but also textual and socio-cultural, and it is also
conditioned by the circumstances that occur at each historical moment (Rabadán, 1991,
p. 28). The translation of cultural elements is an essential tool for establishing identities
and for facilitating (or hindering) intercultural understanding (Igareda, 2011, p. 14).
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103 61Insights into the subtitling of films from Arabic into Spanish
Therefore, the main objective of this work is to verify whether the translation norms
studied in the translation methods for dubbing and subtitling, traditionally based on
language combinations with English, are applicable to analyse AVT for the specific case
of the Arabic-Spanish language combination, based on the analysis of the treatment of
the cultural elements present in the audiovisual texts selected for this research. To
achieve this, the following specific objectives are proposed: determine a methodological
framework for analysing the translation of the cultural elements of the selected corpus,
taking as a reference the cultural translation theories and the theoretical review of the
four central notions of analysis: constraints, norms and techniques, together with the
concept of the translation method; and, identify the translator method used to carry out
the interlinguistic transfer for the specific case of Arabic-Spanish, in order to determine
the cultural focal points of greatest cultural conflict in this language pair.
From the descriptive studies of translation approach, in the elaboration of the
methodology, we have followed Martí Ferriol’s model (2006), which is made up of three
parameters: constraints, techniques and norms of audiovisual translation.
The study was carried out in three stages:
1. The conceptual stage, in which the theoretical framework and instruments of analysis
were determined. A review is carried out of the state of the art of theoretical proposals
of a cultural nature, the treatment of cultural elements in Translation Studies, the
theories on the three parameters of analysis and the translation method. For each of
these three parameters, we review the classification of various proposals made by
different Translation Studies scholars, such as the contributions by the School of
Manipulation, Toury (1980, 1995) and Rabadán (1991), among others, and then by the
theories oriented towards AVT: Goris (1993), Ballester (2001), Díaz Cintas (2003),
Chaume (2005), Martí Ferriol (2006, 2013) and Rica Peromingo (2016).
2. The methodological stage: based on the contributions reviewed in the previous stage,
we propose a taxonomy or model of analysis in accordance with the characteristics of
subtitling from Arabic into Spanish, taking as a reference the classification of Martí
Ferriol (2006, 2013). Both films and their subtitled versions are viewed. This practice
facilitates the identification of representative samples from a translatological point of
view.
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103 62Noha Abdallah Mohamed Moussa and Miguel Ángel Candel-Mora
3. The analytical stage: a qualitative analysis is carried out on the samples extracted from
the corpus for subsequent quantitative analysis.
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
In this section, we review the context of cinema in Egypt, the literature on subtitling and
the current state of subtitling in Egypt, to finally highlight the findings identified in the
corpus and present our proposal of classification of translation norms adapted to
subtitling from Arabic into Spanish.
II.1. Cinema in Egypt
Egyptian cinema is the oldest and most influential in the Arab world, considered the
paradigm for Arab filmmakers. The beginnings of cinema in Egypt coincide with the rise
of cinema in Europe. Due to its enormous film production, Egypt has been considered
the ‘Hollywood of the Middle East’. The origins of the Egyptian film industry date back
to the 1930s, along with the establishment of Studio Misr. Since 1936, Egypt began to
participate in international film festivals, which led to its prominent position as a key
representative of Arab cinema.
Egypt was the only Arab country that could establish a national film industry during the
colonial period. From the first Egyptian film in 1927 to the present day, Egyptian film
production has reached almost 3,000 films, representing about three quarters of the
total Arab production. The success of the Egyptian film industry is due to several
reasons, among them the dynamic and multicultural life in the country and the
coexistence of Egyptians with different cultures and nationalities without, at that time,
submitting to the colonial authorities. Although the British occupation ended in 1952,
resistance to foreign domination and Egyptians’ interest in establishing their own
identity became more tangible in many fields, especially after the establishment of the
Al-Wafd political party in 1918 and the 1919 Revolution. In 1937, the Egyptian
government stipulated the abolition of the Capitulations which gave special legal rights
to Europeans.
In the 1940s, film production experienced its golden years and Cairo was considered the
film capital of the Arab world and the film industry became the second source of wealth
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103 63Insights into the subtitling of films from Arabic into Spanish
after cotton production. Samir Farid (2011), one of the leading historians of Egyptian
and Arab cinema, notes that the Egyptian film market is one of only three markets in the
world where national films get the largest share, thanks to laws that protect national
production.
Shafik (1998) adds that the introduction of sound led to a boom in the Egyptian film
industry and a profusion of musical films by famous singers such as Mohamed Abdel
Wahab and Om Kulzum. This author offers a classification of Egyptian cinema by
decades: 1) In the 1940s, genres were mixed; 2) The 1950s and 1960s were marked by
melodramatic realism and Hollywood adaptations; 3) The 1970s and 1980s were
characterized by social drama criticising the country’s social and political situation and
the re-emergence of the genres of farce, comedy and early melodrama.
The director of the films studied in this work, Youssef Chahine (1926-2008), is one of the
most important personalities in the history of Egyptian and Arab cinema who enjoys the
greatest international fame. He directed more than 40 films and documentaries
presented at international festivals and shown commercially in Europe and the United
States. Throughout his career, he won many awards, such as the Silver Bear at the Berlin
Film Festival (1979) and the Special Fiftieth Anniversary Prize at the Cannes Film Festival
(1997), among others.
Despite the proximity between Spain and the Arab World due to the long Arab presence
in Spain (711-1492), almost eight centuries of scientific and cultural legacy, Arab cinema
has a very scarce presence in Spanish commercial cinemas due to several factors such
as distribution and the domination of American cinema. Among the Spanish festivals
specialising in presenting Arab cinema, rich in its subject matter and artistic level but
unknown to many, are the Mostra del Mediterrani in Valencia, the Mostra de Cinema
Africà in Barcelona, the Festival Internacional de Cine Euroárabe (Amal) in Santiago de
Compostela, the Festival of African cinema of Tarifa (FCAT), the Mostra de Cinema Àrab
i Mediterrani in Sant Feliu de Llobregat (Barcelona), and the Festival de Cines del Sur in
Granada. In addition to the aforementioned festivals and exhibitions, Spanish spectators
can access Arab films through film libraries, the Arab film cycles offered by Casa Árabe,
and Martes de Cine, a programme organised by the Fundación Tres Culturas in Seville,
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103 64Noha Abdallah Mohamed Moussa and Miguel Ángel Candel-Mora
which aims to raise awareness of the culture of the Middle East and North Africa through
cinema as a transmitter of a country’s culture.
II.2. Audiovisual translation and subtitling
For Chaume (2004: 31), audiovisual translation modes are the technical methods used
to carry out the linguistic transfer of an audiovisual text from one language to another.
Audiovisual texts are characterised by two codes, the visual code which is invariable and
the oral or linguistic code which is translated through different modalities. The most
prominent and most widely accepted modes of audiovisual translation in the literature
are dubbing, subtitling, voice-over and simultaneous interpreting, with a special focus
on dubbing and subtitling, which are the most widespread and popular modes.
The most recent and complete classification of subtitling (Díaz Cintas and Remael, 2007)
consists of 5 parameters: 1). Linguistic parameters, with the distinction between
intralinguistic, interlinguistic and bilingual subtitles; 2). Preparation time available, with
two types, online pre-preparation and live or real-time offline subtitling, also known as
simultaneous subtitling; 3). Technical parameters, open captioning and closed
captioning; 4). Method of subtitle projection: photochemical subtitling, laser subtitling,
or, most common today, electronic subtitling; and, 5). Distribution format, such as
cinema, television, DVD or Internet.
Since the beginnings of audiovisual translation studies and its modalities, there have
been numerous publications on the preference for applying one mode or another, thus
constituting a controversial issue among scholars of this discipline. A review of the
international panorama of subtitling and dubbing countries shows that, in Western
Europe, countries such as Germany, Spain, France and Italy opt for dubbing, while others
such as Portugal, the Netherlands, Greece and the Scandinavian countries opt for
subtitling. Díaz Cintas (2003) points out that in many cases the various modes of
audiovisual translation coexist depending on whether the product is broadcasted on
television or cinema, the genre of the programme and the profile of the audience. For
example, products aimed at children or older audiences are dubbed because it is easier
than reading the subtitles, even in subtitling countries.
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103 65Insights into the subtitling of films from Arabic into Spanish
There are several reasons that justify the choice of a particular mode. The economic
factor of the country has a lot to do with the chosen mode; many countries opt for
subtitling because it is less expensive than dubbing. It is also important to highlight
viewers’ tastes and habits, as they are accustomed to one mode that is more
comfortable than another, and changing these habits would entail many economic risks.
From a cultural perspective, the higher the level of unfamiliarity with the source
language of the film, the greater the opposition to subtitling by the target audience. At
other times, politics may justify the use of dubbing over subtitling, which is seen as a
means of preserving the language from linguistic invasion. Four of the countries that
follow dubbing policy had dictatorial regimes: Germany, Spain, France and Italy. Agost
(1999) points out that the origin of the division between dubbing and subtitling
countries was the economic and cultural supremacy of the USA after the Second World
War and the increase of its audiovisual products, which made fascist or dictatorial
regimes such as Germany, Spain, France and Italy choose dubbing as an instrument of
censorship.
The advocates of subtitling are in favour of this method for several reasons: a) It is
cheaper than dubbing; b) It makes it possible to enjoy the foreign language and the
original voices of the actors; c) It has a didactic value, since in recent years subtitles have
become a powerful tool in the teaching of foreign languages.
On the other hand, supporters of dubbing argue that subtitles contaminate the image
and distract the attention of viewers who have to take in both the image and the
subtitles at the same time, which leads the translator to omit or discard a large part of
the original dialogue. Another criticism is that cinema is an entertaining activity,
therefore, the effort exerted by the viewer to read and perceive the subtitles results in
reducing this sense of entertainment.
i) Audiovisual translation in Egypt
In Egypt, subtitling was considered the best option to protect the local industry from
competition, in addition to being a less costly procedure than dubbing, as it involves
fewer participants and requires fewer stages. Subtitling in Egypt is attributed to the
effort and hard work of Anis Ebaid who dominated the audiovisual scene in Egypt for
almost forty years in the period between 1944 and 1989.
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103 66Noha Abdallah Mohamed Moussa and Miguel Ángel Candel-Mora
The emerging subtitling industry worked closely with the censors. No sexual language,
no blasphemous references to the Almighty, prophets or revealed books were allowed,
which made the language used in subtitles seem like "genre sui generis" (Gamal, 2008,
p. 3). When translating these taboo language elements into Arabic, subtitlers tend to
use "certain lexical items and syntax that was odd and stilted" (Gamal, 2008, p. 4). This
issue became more noticeable with the advent of television in 1960 when a new era of
audiovisual translation began and the Egyptian Radio and Television Union developed
its own centre.
Until 1990, most AVT in Egypt was limited to subtitling. Although subtitling is considered
the preferred mode, some attempts at dubbing have been made but were unsuccessful
because the films are dubbed in classical Arabic (fuṣḥā) which produces the strange
effect of hearing familiar voices while the action and images on screen show a totally
different culture.
The digital revolution of the mid-1990s and the commercialisation of the Internet made
AVT a growing industry. By the late 1990s, the number of satellite channels had reached
over a hundred and most of them were broadcasting constantly. Until 2002, the
translation of foreign films into Arabic was dominant and very little Egyptian cinema was
translated into other languages. The situation changed with the emerging DVD industry
producing a steady number of Egyptian films subtitled in English and French.
With regard to the training of audiovisual translators in the Arab world, Gamal (2007)
indicates that the increase in the number of companies offering audiovisual translation
services, particularly in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Dubai, as well as the increase
in broadcasting hours and the unprecedented demand for audiovisual translators has
not been supported by an increase in training institutions. In the entire Arab world there
are only two academic institutions offering academic training in audiovisual translation:
one in Cairo (The American University) and the other in Beirut (Balamand University).
Audiovisual translation in the Arab World remains beyond the reach of translation
departments at a time when there is a clear need to embrace the concept, localise the
discipline and invest in the training of specialists in Arabic AVT studies.
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103 67Insights into the subtitling of films from Arabic into Spanish
Over the last two decades, Mexican, Korean and Turkish dramas invaded the Arab World
through dubbing into the Syrian dialect and the Egyptian vernacular understood by most
Arab countries due to the large production of Egyptian films, TV series and songs.
Unlike subtitling, the proliferation of satellite channels gave a major boost to dubbing.
By the mid-1990s, a new trend was emerging in the dubbing of foreign television drama
in Lebanon and Egypt. This phenomenon known as "Mexican drama" originated in
Mexico, Brazil and Spain and was dubbed into Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). With
Mexican drama, dubbing was a contributing factor to the externalisation of the film
material that was not helped by the predominantly female actresses with white
complexions, blonde hair and different body language, westernised lifestyles and more
liberal attitudes towards love, sex and material values.
In 2008, Egyptian viewers were able to watch on pay-TV the new wave of dubbed TV
dramas that spread throughout the Arab world "The Turkish Drama". With the second
wave of dubbed TV dramas, some important changes can be observed. Essentially,
dubbing took place in Syria and in the vernacular of the Syrian dialect. Turkish drama
dubbed in Arabic has been labelled as a new shift that has brought life to Arabic-
language drama production, especially the Syrian dialect, and has brought foreign
romance to Arabic television in a way that is linguistically acceptable and culturally
appropriate.
However, the change also brought challenges to Egyptian drama, which has always been
held in high esteem in Arab countries. The Egyptian dialect, long perceived as the lingua
franca in the Arab world, faced an important competitor, as the Syrian dialect, coupled
with superior foreign production, and posed a challenge that many believe will shake
Egyptian drama out of its complacency.
The unprecedented success of the dubbed Turkish drama is attributed to three main
factors: Syrian Arabic was used instead of MSA, which helped to bring the work closer
to the viewer, and, secondly, the Turkish culture is close to the Arab culture, particularly
in its social customs, cultural values, nuances and feelings. And finally, dubbing was done
professionally, with great care to the details of translation, language details, articulation
and timing.
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103 68Noha Abdallah Mohamed Moussa and Miguel Ángel Candel-Mora
The feedback from the Turkish drama demonstrated that dubbing has been successful
in domesticating foreign work and, for the first time, seems to have gained recognition
and acceptance as a viable method of translating television dramas in the Arab culture.
II.3. Subtitling norms as parameters of translation analysis
In audiovisual translation studies (Ferriol, 2006, 2013), the key notions for defining and
describing the translation method are based on translation techniques, translation
constraints and translation norms, the latter as the object of this study.
Translation techniques serve as analytical tools for the description and comparison of
translations and allow us to identify the equivalences chosen by the translator for
textual micro-units as well as to obtain data on the methodological option used (Hurtado
Albir, 2014, p. 257).
Among the different proposals of translation techniques is Molina and Hurtado Albir’s
compilation (2001, p. 114-116): adaptation, linguistic amplification, amplification,
calque, compensation, linguistic compression, discursive creation, description,
established equivalent, generalisation, modulation, particularisation, borrowing,
reduction, substitution, literal translation, transposition and variation.
Martí Ferriol’s (2006, 2013) proposal, specifically adapted to audiovisual translation, is
based on Molina and Hurtado Albir (2001), with some modifications such as adding two
more techniques: word-for-word translation and one-for-one translation; distinguishing
between omission and reduction to establish a gradation in the degree of intervention
of the translator (Martí Ferriol, 2013, p. 118); and, eliminating the compensation
technique due to the difficulty of identifying and locating it, especially in the variety of
audiovisual translation.
Its validity is related to several issues such as: the context, the purpose of the translation,
audience expectations, the genre of the text, the modality of the translation (written
translation, sight translation, etc.), the type of translation (technical translation, literary
translation, etc.), and so on.
In his handbook on translation, Ghazala (1995: 195-209) adopts a practical rather than
a theoretical approach in dealing with the problems generated by English-Arabic
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103 69Insights into the subtitling of films from Arabic into Spanish
interlanguage transfer, and proposes a list of sixteen procedures or techniques, which
are described below:
1. Cultural equivalent: finding an equivalent in the target language (TL) that can
be used in the same context providing the same meaning as the source
language (SL). For example, translate The British Council by البريطاني الثقافي المركز
2. Cultural correspondence: using a term in the TL that could have exactly and
literally the same term in the SL. For example, “Security Council” as األمن مجلس,
“to hit two birds with one stone” as بحجر عصفورين يضرب.
3. Accepted standard translation: using a term or expression that is already
commonly accepted in everyday usage, especially terms related to
technology, the Internet, etc. For example, “spare parts” as السيارات غيار قطع
4. Naturalization: adapting a word from the SL to the morphology and
pronunciation of the TL. For example, “democracy” as ديمقراطية, and
“Hercules” as هرقل.
5. General sense: replacing a SL term with a clarification of its meaning because
there is no equivalent term in the TL. For example, “paddy fields” as األرز حقول
6. Transcription/transference: transliterating the word as it is pronounced in the
SL. For example, “cricket” as يكتكر.
7. Literal translation: translating the meaning of expressions literally. For
example, “The White House” as األبيض البيت.
8. Translation couplet: combining two translation techniques.
For example, “Pentagon” as )( البنتاجون (األمريكية الدفاع وزارةtranscription and
paraphrase).
9. Translation triplet: similar to the previous technique, but in this case three
techniques are used. For example, “jeans jacket” as سنة ( أمريك جين رliteral
translation, transcription and classifier).
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103 70Noha Abdallah Mohamed Moussa and Miguel Ángel Candel-Mora
10. Classifier: introducing a classifier that explains or clarifies the cultural
component when there is a risk that the text will be incomprehensible. For
example, “sake” as الساكي شراب, “rock” as الروك موسيقى.
11. Neutralization: functional/descriptive equivalent: this technique is a "kind of
deculturalization" of the cultural term of the SL, removing its cultural feature
and using a neutral term. For example, “Kremlin” as الروسي الرئاسي القصر.
12. Componential analysis: adding clarifying details not included in the SL. For
example, “continental breakfast”: (توست) محمص وخبز وقهوة شاي:أوروبي فطور.
13. Paraphrase: provide a succinct explanation to clarify the meaning of the term
in question. For example, “ham” as الخنزير فخذ شرائح.
14. Translation label: this is a non-standardized, provisional translation of a
neologism, which is enclosed in quotation marks or brackets to indicate its
transitional nature. For example: “love virus” ]الحاسب تخريب فيروس [الحب فيروس.
15. Deletion: omission of an element present in the SL from the TL.
For example: “AIDS” المناعة نقصinstead of المكتسبة المناعة نقص مرض.
16. Gloss/glossary, notes and footnotes: providing an explanation of a vague or
misleading word or expression by means of a footnote or glossary at the end
of the text. For example: “ploughman’s lunch” الجعة ومشروب ومخلالت وجبن خبز
الفالح غداء:من مؤلف بسيط غداء
Translation problems are "the difficulties (linguistic, extra-linguistic, etc.) of an objective
nature that the translator may encounter when carrying out a translation task" (Hurtado
Albir, 2014: 286). According to Hurtado Albir, the notion of problem is of vital
importance in translation didactics and evaluation, as it "guides the elaboration of
learning objectives as well as the comparison of the translation with the original text"
(2014, p. 279).
Despite its great importance, only a few authors address the issue of translation
problems. Lorscher (1991) acknowledges that "the absence of empirical approaches and
the strong speculative tendency" (quoted in Hurtado Albir, 2014, p. 280) led to the
scarcity of analysis of this translatological issue.
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103 71Insights into the subtitling of films from Arabic into Spanish
There is no unanimous consensus among translatologists about its definition or its
classification, as Presas (1996) points out that "there is a lack of a definition of the
concept of translation problem with a theoretical basis and systematisation" (quoted in
Hurtado Albir, 2014, p. 280).
Based on the proposal of Nord (1991) and the PACTE group (2011), Hurtado Albir (2014,
p. 288) proposes a typology of translation problems composed of five basic categories:
1. Linguistic problems: include problems related to the linguistic code, especially
at the lexical and morphosyntactic levels.
2. Textual problems: refer to problems related to issues of coherence, thematic
progression, cohesion, textual typologies (genre conventions) and style.
3. Extra-linguistic problems: these are problems which refer to thematic,
encyclopaedic and cultural issues. They are related to cultural differences.
4. Intentionality problems: related to difficulties in capturing information from
the original text (intention, intertextuality, speech acts, presuppositions,
implicatures).
5. Pragmatic problems: arise from the translation project, the characteristics of
the receiver and the context in which the translation is carried out.
With regard to translation norms, the object of this study, the work by Martí Ferriol
(2006, 2013), based on the contributions of Goris and Ballester, studies the subtitled and
dubbed versions of five films belonging to the genre "American independent auteur
cinema" released between 2001 and 2004, focusing on the theoretical concept of the
translation method and on the three parameters (norm, technique and constraint) used
for its identification. For the translation phase, Martí Ferriol (2013, pp. 71-72) proposes
six types of norms:
1. Linguistic standardisation: neutralisation (levelling) of the non-standard
features of the different dialectal (including social) varieties of the source
language, of the idiolects and of all linguistic registers.
2. Naturalisation: adaptation (graphic substitution, voice-over or subtitling) of
graphic signs (labels, titles, etc.); adaptation of pronunciation (proper names
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103 72Noha Abdallah Mohamed Moussa and Miguel Ángel Candel-Mora
and place names are pronounced according to the phonetic rules of the target
language); the familiarising treatment of socio-cultural references; and,
especially, respect for visual synchrony (phonetic, kinesic and isochrony
synchrony), which is clearly conditioned by planning (Chaume, 2003a, p. 251):
for certain types of shots, it is more important that the translation conforms
to the movements of the actors on screen than to what they actually say in
the source language.
3. Explicitation: of vague or equivocal expressions, connectors or logical
connections. It also consists of the addition of internal references to reinforce
the homogeneity of the structure of the story, and the textual explicitness of
the images.
4. Linguistic fidelity: maintenance of the morphology, syntax or grammatical
constructions (especially simple ones) of the original text.
5. Euphemisation: alteration of the ethical sign of some element of the original
text, softening it.
6. Dysphemisation: alteration of the ethical sign of some element of the original
text, hardening it.
III. METHODOLOGY
In order to verify whether the translation norms considered in AVT methods,
traditionally based on language combinations with English, are adequate for the specific
case of the Arabic-Spanish language combination, we start from one of the most
common translation problems in the literature: the treatment of the cultural elements
present in the audiovisual texts selected for this research. For our corpus, we have
selected two Egyptian films directed by Youssef Chahine: Cairo Station (Bāb al-ḥadīd,
1958) and The Earth (Al-ʼrd, 1969).
The work was structured in three phases: in the first phase, the films and their subtitled
versions were viewed with the aim of detecting the most representative cultural
elements or those that call the attention from a translatological point of view for the
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103 73Insights into the subtitling of films from Arabic into Spanish
creation of an aligned bilingual corpus, built from the transcriptions of both Arabic films
that have been manually transcribed and their Spanish versions already prepared in .srt
format with the time codes in hours, minutes, seconds and milliseconds. The corpus of
Spanish subtitled versions was extracted from the Opensubtitles.org platform, whose
database includes more than three million subtitles in more than 60 languages. In the
second phase, a database record template was designed for the extraction of cultural
elements and the subsequent qualitative analysis of the selected samples.
Table 1. Database record template for qualitative analysis.
To facilitate tracking, a code has been assigned to identify the name of the film
Sample abbreviated in letters: EC (Estación Central) Cairo Station and LT (La tierra) The
Code Earth, together with the number of the subtitle in sequential order, according to
its appearance in the subtitled version.
(Time Code Reading): time of the film where the sample appears on the screen,
TCR
shown in hours, minutes and seconds.
Original Arabic version. We display the selected subtitle or subtitles of the film,
highlighting the expression or term studied in bold. In some cases, we mention,
OV
in the same sample, all the recurrences of a given term, explaining its meaning
in each of them.
SV Spanish subtitled version.
Proposed norm(s), depending on the number of examples in the same sample,
Norm
used by the subtitled version for the transfer of the sample in question.
Technique Technique(s) of the subtitled version for the transfer of the studied sample.
Table 2. Example of a completed database record.
Sample code EC66
TCR 00:15:34
OV اللي عايزة تاكل لقمتها الزم تروح تخطفها من حنك السبع
SV Hay que luchar si queréis ganarse la vida
Norm Explicitación
Technique Descripción
In the third phase, a preliminary classification into seven categories of the cultural
elements identified with the potential to be considered a translation problem was
carried out according to their content: sayings and proverbs, general lexical issues,
interjections and onomatopoeias, fixed expressions, text-image relationship, socio-
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103 74Noha Abdallah Mohamed Moussa and Miguel Ángel Candel-Mora
cultural references and religious references. After this initial work, in the fourth phase,
the cultural elements of the original versions and their corresponding translations were
identified and extracted manually by the authors of this work and included in their
corresponding category in the database. Finally, after an exhaustive analysis, in the last
phase, the norms and techniques used by the subtitled versions for the transfer of
cultural elements into the target language were identified.
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The audiovisual language of the films under study is colloquial, characterised by a
profusion of idioms, expressions and idiomatic expressions, among other features. Due
to the cultural distance between the cultures in question and the non-existence of an
equivalent in the target language, together with the spatio-temporal limitation of
subtitling, translators often resort to move away from the literal translation. Using the
descriptive approach based on the three parameters of audiovisual translation analysis,
norms, techniques and constraints, a total of 194 samples containing 229 cultural
elements (CE) were collected during the cultural term identification phase.
Table 3 shows the classification of the cultural elements analysed that were used to
determine the type of translation norm used and to achieve the aim of this work of
verifying whether the existing theoretical frameworks, based primarily on language
combinations with English, are applicable for the translation from Arabic into Spanish.
As shown in Table 3, the film Cairo Station has a higher occurrence of constraints than
The Earth. The constraints with the highest presence in the corpus are fixed expressions
and socio-cultural references. They are followed by religious references and general
lexical questions, and finally, sayings and proverbs, interjections and onomatopoeias,
and the text-image relationship, which present almost the same number of frequencies
in our corpus.
Table 3. Classification of the cultural elements analysed.
Total
Cairo Total
The Earth Cultural
Station samples
Elements
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103 75Insights into the subtitling of films from Arabic into Spanish
Sayings and proverbs 9 2 11 11
General lexical issues 16 9 25 27
Interjections and onomatopoeias 4 7 11 13
Fixed expressions 39 19 58 63
Text-image relationship 7 3 10 10
Socio-cultural references 32 23 55 77
Religious references 10 14 24 28
Total 117 77 194 229
Both formulas of address and vocative and interjective expressions play an essential role
in the characterisation of interlocutors and their relations with each other. Their
transposition into another language raises complex socio-cultural translation problems,
since they differ not only from one language to another but also from one social group
to another within the same language. This problem is even worse in the case of
conversational discourse such as audiovisual texts.
Several factors influence the use of forms of address and therefore come into play when
translating these problematic expressions: the interpersonal relationship (the distance
or proximity between speakers), the hierarchical relationship (difference in age, social
class, level of education, etc.), the difference between diatopic varieties (e.g. between
city and countryside), diachronic differences, etc.
We see an abundant use of curses and insults in the subtitles of the films, in which the
characters show their anger against those who have dedicated themselves to making
their lives miserable. Such insults are seen as restitution for a justice that will not come
by any other means. Cursing appears in different ways, but most frequently in formulas
containing the name of God, a word that was not always preserved in the subtitled
versions.
The fact that the religions of the source and target cultures are so different entails that
Islamic vocabulary, prayer expressions and Islamic precepts pose cultural pitfalls for
translators. Due to the lexical specificity of religious vocabulary and the target
audience’s lack of Arabic culture referents, there is a greater tendency towards
omission, adaptation and discursive creation that reformulates, on certain occasions,
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103 76Noha Abdallah Mohamed Moussa and Miguel Ángel Candel-Mora
the original utterance. The use of these techniques generates a more secularised
subtitled text, losing the religious imprint of the original text.
In the translation of sayings and proverbs, even in the few cases in which there is one in
the TT that provides the same meaning as the original, the subtitled version does not
use it, opting for the norm of reformulation associated, normally, with the discursive
creation technique that presents a high frequency in this constraint.
Continuing with the quantitative analysis, in terms of the proposed translation norms
identified in each film, Table 4 shows a summary of the main findings.
Table 4. Quantitative analysis of the norms in the corpus.
Norm Cairo Station The Earth Total
Linguistic standardisation 6 7 13
Naturalisation 8 14 22
Explicitation 31 30 61
Linguistic fidelity 6 3 9
Euphemisation 2 2 4
Dysphemisation 2 1 3
Implicitation 57 25 82
Reformulation 38 23 61
Total 150 105 255
As shown in Table 4, the most frequently used norms in our corpus are implicitation and
explicitation, which were not included in Martí Ferriol’s proposal (2006, 2013) based on
the subtitling of American independent cinema, but have been necessary for the Arabic
to Spanish translator method. The next most frequently used norms are explicitation,
reformulation, and naturalisation respectively. The least frequently used norms are:
linguistic standardisation and linguistic fidelity. As for euphemisation and
dysphemisation, they are applied in very few cases.
According to the data in the tables above, we conclude that the translation method
adopted by the subtitled versions is the interpretative-communicative method focused
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103 77Insights into the subtitling of films from Arabic into Spanish
on the form of the target message, with a tendency and preference to offer an
acceptable translation towards the target language and culture.
In the Arabic culture, formulas of address denoting kinship are frequently used for non-
family members such as بنن، ابن، عم، أبا،( خالنaunt, father, uncle, son and daughter). In
most cases, the subtitled version applies the omission technique which leads to the loss
of the cultural load of the original. Other formulae do not have an equivalent or
analogous term in the TL such as pilgrim ( حاجhaj/hajj) which was translated by “you” as
there is no equivalent in the TL that conveys or reproduces its exact meaning, and the
other formula ( شيخsheij) transferred by the SV as “Sheikh”, although it does not
correspond to its social usage.
Martí Ferriol’s (2006) proposal includes six norms: linguistic standardisation,
naturalisation, explicitation, linguistic fidelity, euphemisation and dysphemisation;
however, we considered it necessary to add two more norms for this study because
these norms are the most frequently used to transfer fixed expressions, religious
references and interjections and onomatopoeias, the most common translation
problems in the case of Arabic-Spanish AVT (see Table 4):
1. Implicitation: elimination of elements considered redundant and/or
unimportant, justified or unjustified reduction or suppression of a cultural
or linguistic element of the original text. It is opposed to the norm of
explicitation. Some examples include the following:
Table 5. Examples of implicitation.
Original arabic version Spanish subtitle Observation
، مش موجود بيصل العرص ف جامع السلطان حسنHa salido a Reference to name
دا rezar. and time of prayer is
not specified.
ربنا يلطف، أعوذ باهلل،استغفر هللا العظيم يارب دا حر من جهنم
بينا Hoy hace un Reference to religious
calor infernal. cultural elements
removed.
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103 78Noha Abdallah Mohamed Moussa and Miguel Ángel Candel-Mora
مفهوم يا، محدش يمد ايده عل الميه بعد الخمس أيامQue nadie Reference to political
شيخ البلد toque el agua representative
después de los removed.
5 días
¿comprendido?
2. Reformulation: modifying the original message to reduce the number of
characters, to conform more closely to the form and/or grammatical rules
of the target language or due to the lack of an equivalent term in the target
language.
Table 6. Examples of reformulation.
Original arabic version Spanish Observation
subtitle
إاله يهديك No seas Religious expression
pesado. removed and
reformulated.
ربنا يتمم بخي بس شد حيلك انت Es lo mejor. Sé Religious expression
fuerte. removed and
reformulated.
هو احنا لحقنا! هما راكبهم عفريت دول وال ايه ¿Los policías? Idiomatic expression
¿Ya? reformulated.
In view of the above, the norms we propose for the model of our analysis are: linguistic
standardisation, naturalisation, explicitation, linguistic fidelity, euphemisation,
dysphemisation, implicitation and reformulation.
Among the translation norms that seem to be associated with the general lexical issues
is explicitation that is achieved with the techniques of particularisation and description.
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103 79Insights into the subtitling of films from Arabic into Spanish
The subtitled versions choose to offer more specific expressions in order to convey what
is meant by the original version.
With regards to interjections and onomatopoeias, the subtitled versions apply, in most
cases, implicitation which is always associated throughout the corpus with omission,
except in two cases with compression into other categories of constraints.
On the other hand, as far as fixed expressions are concerned the predominant norm is
explicitation followed by reformulation and implicitation respectively, together with the
techniques that correspond to these norms: description, particularisation, discursive
creation and omission.
Explicitation has been identified as the predominant norm for the constraint of Text-
image relationship in which the subtitled versions tend to make explicit what is seen in
the picture using more precise words.
Both socio-cultural references and religious references show a higher frequency of
occurrence of the norm of implicitation.
V. CONCLUSIONS
This work is framed within the descriptive studies of translation. The approach of this
paper is mainly based on Martí Ferriol’s model (2006). For the analysis of the corpus, we
have adapted Martí Ferriol’s model to the problems that arise in the specific case of
subtitling in the Arabic-Spanish language combination by adapting and adding criteria
that have been considered relevant and thus propose a model of analysis adapted to
this language combination.
The main objective of this study was to verify whether the existing typologies of
translation strategies, traditionally based on language combinations with English, are
applicable to the analysis of AVT for the specific case of the Arabic-Spanish language
combination, based on the analysis of the treatment of the cultural expressions present
in the audiovisual texts selected for this research.
In general, the translation criterion adopted by subtitled versions, where there is no
existing and recognisable Spanish equivalent that fulfils the same function as the
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103 80Noha Abdallah Mohamed Moussa and Miguel Ángel Candel-Mora
original, is to reformulate, omit or paraphrase the content or meaning of the original
statement in order to avoid forced phrasing and, at the same time, to achieve the
acceptance of the target receiver. However, it does not always carry the same phatic
function and expressive force as the original, and the distinctive features of the original
versions are lost in the process of linguistic transfer, as in cases of softening or loss of
the tone of threat, contempt and irony. In other cases, there exists a change of register
where the text is endowed with a degree of formality that diverges substantially from
the original, which entails, therefore, a loss of the colloquial character and spontaneity
of the original.
The audiovisual language of the films under study is colloquial in nature, characterised
by a profusion of idioms and idiomatic expressions, among other features. Due to the
cultural distance between the cultures in question and the non-existence of an
equivalent in the target language together with the spatial-temporal limitation,
translators resort, on most occasions, to departing from literalism.
Forms of address and vocative and interjective expressions play an essential role in the
characterisation of interlocutors and their relations with each other. Therefore, their
transfer into another language raises complex socio-cultural translation issues, since
they differ not only from one language to another but also from one social group to
another within the same language.
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Received: 25 March 2021
Accepted: 5 July 2021
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